Overthrowing the Worlds
by Radpipe
Summary: The worlds are at peace, though not for long. Ichigo finds himself forced to make the hardest decision of his life as he is thrust once more into the middle of a war everyone had thought was over. New friends or old? Justice or love?
1. The Plot Thickens

Short and brief. To be expected from them, especially considering how many of them had already known he was going to receive it. He wasn't one for standing around doing nothing but waiting for a signal for him to step forwards. It had only taken them a few years for them to realize his impatience, though some had figured it out the moment he had decided to assault the Soul Society just because of a person he had barely known at the time.

Ichigo decided to look around at the faces right before the signal came. A smile brightening Juushiro's and Shunsui's faces, a smaller, reserved, smile sitting on Toshiro's, Sajin and Byakuya's faces passive as always, Soi Fon trying her hardest to glare a hole through Ichigo, Renji with his smirk, Kenpachi with his devilish grin, Mayuri nowhere to be found, and last but not least, Retsu's angelic smile beaming at Ichigo.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, would you please come up?"

Ichigo looked up at Gennryusai Yamamoto, whose face was not betraying the slightest hint of what was hidden behind those eyes. Ichigo walked up, forced to wait yet again as he tuned out the rest of the speech, taking the clapping and whistling as cue to take his new uniform from the head captain's outstretched hand. He looked down at the number displayed on his uniform. _Captain Kurosaki of the Fifth Division..._ Ichigo looked back up at the crowd of soul reapers, before giving out a loud yawn.

Silence. Ichigo stopped yawning, looking out at the wide eyes and gaping mouths. He looked over to his left to see the glaring eyes of the head captain, short and hard words coming out of his mouth as he spoke to Ichigo. "Your speech, _Captain_ Kurosaki."

Ichigo sheepishly grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. Suddenly he looked down at his feet, then back at the crowd of soul reapers, a serious glint in his eyes. "I'm not going to lie to all of you, and tell you that I'll be able to protect everyone. I tried doing that myself and things didn't work out so well," his eyes briefly glanced at Rukia, whose smile was tinged with sadness, "I won't say I'm some sort of hero, I'm not. But that doesn't mean there are no heroes. No, its because we're all heroes. Together, unified as a force of good, we are the hero. For those who think you're not ready to become a hero, that's what I'm here for. I've been through the worst, the best, and the alright moments. I know what it's like to watch someone slip through your fingers. Which is why I'm here to make sure that none of you will let that happen. I might be a captain, but you're the ones that will carry our future, and it's your strength that we'll be depending on, so I'll do my best to lend you mine now."

A beat. Two beats. Then the applause. Except, unlike the speech it was long and filled with emotion. Ichigo stood there, astounded that he had even managed to come up with a speech in the first place, let alone one to cause such a reaction. A small smile made its way on his face, as he swept his gaze over the numerous soul reapers and his friends.

However, his smile was soon gone within the next few days, the mountains of paperwork already making him wish he had torn apart the uniform and gone back to his family, already hating his new title with the amount of people calling him "Captain Kurosaki". _Captain Kurosaki of the Fifth Division my ass, damn old man probably did this on purpose just so he could get the final laugh!_ Ichigo smirked evilly as he eyed the current leaning tower of paperwork, a plan already hatching to get his revenge. Or at least, he would have had a small ball of green not smashed into his paperwork, and then continued onwards into him sending him flying through the wall and into the garden outside.

"Itsygo!" But it was too late, Ichigo's conscious was already fading.


	2. Itsygo? Ichigo!

Pain. Excructiating pain. "Don't die, don't die, don't die!"

 _ **CRACK**_. Ichigo's eyes flew open as he screamed, feeling his back crunch. The pain went away for a split second before he suddenly felt weightless, but reality wouldn't give him a break. He slammed into the ground, more pain accompanying and his eyes closing in response. After a groan or two, he finally reopened his eyes and looked up.

"Ichigo?"

Green hair, that familiar scar, a crimson line. Then those hazel eyes, staring straight back into his own. "N-Nel?" Ichigo gasped out weakly.

"Ichigo!" He was off the ground again, the same pain as before returning.

"Nel... the pain... let... go!" For the third time that day he landed on his back, the thud of his landing becoming annoyingly familiar.

Nelliel giggled, her eyes bright as she watched Ichigo stretch out his back. "Sorry Ichigo, it's just been so long since I've seen you."

"It's alright, just calm down with the hugs." Ichigo sighed, the pain leaving him. Then it hit him. _She called me Ichigo_. Ichigo looked over at Nelliel, confirming his suspicion. Nelliel was in her adult form. _But I swear she had that lisp when she first called me_. "Hey Nel, why aren't you in kid form?"

"Oh, when I saw you I got so excited I accidentally changed forms!"

Ichigo shot her a puzzled expression, "but aren't you normally in your other form?"

"Not anymore, after you helped me gain my powers back, my natural form switched to this one!" Nelliel was grinning brightly at Ichigo, who couldn't help but lose himself in those eyes.

"A-alright... hey wait a second, Nel you shouldn't be here, this is the Soul Society!"

"Don't worry Ichigo, I made sure to be extra super sneaky, there's no way anyone noticed me."

A shrill noise entered the air, Ichigo taking a second to realize what it was. "Are you sure you didn't get noticed?" He couldn't help but let the sarcasm drip from this voice, however Nelliel didn't seem to be affected.

"One hundred percent!"

Ichigo couldn't help but stare wide eyed in disbelief, wondering if the former Espada didn't notice the alarm or was just extremely good at lying. "Nel we've got to get you out of here, this place is going to be crawling with soul reapers any second."

He didn't bother asking if Nelliel had an escape plan, knowing how even in her adult form she still had the heart of a child. Grabbing her hand, he began leading her out of the garden, but stopped just as suddenly, his mind coming up with what could possibly be the worst plan he had come up with, besides invading the Soul Society. "Wait here for a second, I'll be right back."

Ichigo went back into his destroyed office, opening up the spare closet inside and quickly grabbed a spare soul reaper uniform. Going back outside, he linked his hand with Nelliel's again, leading them into the forest behind the fifth division's barracks.

Once he considered them to be deep enough, he halted Nelliel, thrusting the spare uniform into her hands. "Go change, I'll turn around."

After a few moments of rustling Nelliel signalled she was finished. "Do you think we can get one of those 'cotton candies' while we're here?"

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched. "Nel, you do remember what happened just ten minutes ago, right?"

"Nope~" Ichigo's irritation growing as she drew out the end of the word.

"Let's just say a lot of mean men are after us and we need to get out of here."

Nel formed a small o with her mouth, before nodding her assent.

Ichigo led the way through the forest, the crunching of the leaves and branches seemingly roaring as they stepped through. Just as they were about to exit the forest, something shined light into his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he moved back and looked over to where he thought it was coming from. His eyes widened, realizing just how close they were to losing both their lives. "Nel, your mask!"

Nelliel frowned, attempting to look up at her mask and crossing her eyes in the process. _Cute!_ Ichigo shook his head, signature scowl returning as he banished the thought, turning his head to hide the reddening of his cheeks.

"I got it!" Nelliel shouted. Ichigo watched her, perplexed as she crept closer and closer to him.

"Nel, w-what are you doing?"

Nelliel let out what seemed to be a fierce battle cry, rushing straight into Ichigo. Before he had a chance to comprehend what had happened, Nelliel had already gotten underneath his uniform, hugging him from behind tightly with her head still hidden inside.

Ichigo froze, heart beating rapidly, feeling the warmth press into his back. "Don't worry Ichigo, now no one will notice!"

Had Ichigo been under normal circumstances, he most likely would've shoved Nelliel away, stuttering in his usual prudish way before attempting to come up with a solution that didn't involve them pressed up so close. But these weren't normal circumstances. Ichigo only nodded, his mind unable to supply him with reasons why this plan shouldn't work.

They began the slow trek through the maze known as the Seireitei, making their way to the senkaimon. Ichigo steadily grew nervous as time went on, seeing the lingering gazes the other soul reapers were giving the newly appointed captain.

Alas, poor Ichigo did not have fate on his side that day. A dog ran up to them, finding their legs tasty and began to lick. Ichigo, having lived with two sisters, was immune to such treatment, not that his sisters had regularly licked him, but Nelliel had never had the chance to build up a resistance. Soon, furious giggles were heard, as the dog was forced to lick Nelliel's legs from behind, as Ichigo was forcing them forward. He could only come up with one solution, growing desperate as he noticed the stares others were giving him. Quickly, he leaned over, acting as though he was having a coughing fit. At the same time, he hoisted Nelliel's legs, bringing her into a piggyback, her legs out of range of the dog.

Somewhere along the way, the dog had grown bored, leaving them once again to their solitude. Which lead to yet another problem for Ichigo. With nothing else to distract them, he couldn't help but focus in on the feeling of Nelliel breathing down his neck, an involuntary shiver racking his spine. What Ichigo didn't know, was that Nelliel had fallen asleep, finding it too comfortable in her makeshift piggyback.

Eventually, Ichigo spotted the senkaimon rising in the distance, and began to hurry his pace. He angled his head back a bit, softly whispering so as not to attract anymore unnecessary attention. "Nel, we're here, get ready."

Nelliel softly awoke, signalling to Ichigo that she was ready. The soul reapers standing guard at the senkaimon raised questioning eyebrows, especially upon seeing the slight hump on Ichigo's back.

"Captain Kurosaki, need to head through to the World of the Living?"

Ichigo nodded, making sure to stay behind the guards as they opened the gate, trying his best to conceal Nelliel. Once it fully opened, Ichigo decided to not waste anymore time, speeding his way straight in and out the other side.

As soon as Ichigo's feet hit the ground, Nelliel brought herself out of Ichigo's uniform, stretching herself out. "That was a lot of fun Ichigo! We should do that again sometime," Nelliel giving Ichigo a lopsided grin.

He shook his head, still unable to believe the chaos that they had just made it through. "Listen Nel, it's extremely dangerous to be here," as Ichigo spoke he summoned a hell butterfly, "here, follow this, it'll lead you to a safe place for now, you can trust the people there."

"Y-you're not coming with me Ichigo?" His heart caught in his throat, seeing the teary eyed face of Nelliel seemingly staring into his soul.

"Don't worry Nel, I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

Nelliel wiped her eyes, adopting her lopsided grin once more. She nodded, before giving Ichigo a surprise hug, leaving him red faced. Giving a mock salute, Nelliel giggled as the hell butterfly flew off, skipping as she followed it.

Ichigo sighed, knowing he would have to avoid some difficult questions directed his way upon returning to 'Mr. Hat-n-Clogs', but after seeing that smile of hers, he considered it worth it. Turning around, he prepared himself for the real hell awaiting him back in the Soul Society. Paperwork.


	3. Every Day Life

**A/N: Sorry for the massive delay, I meant to do weekly updates with this story, but Spring Break came and caused me to somehow have even less time than ever. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Knock knock knock**_. Eyebrows furrowed. _**Knock knock knock**_. A tick mark appeared. _**Knock knock knock**_.

"Knock it off already will ya? I'm trying to do some damn paperwork in here!" Ichigo's shout could be heard throughout the barracks, nearby soul reapers jumping in terror at the sudden loudness.

The door opened quickly, followed by light footsteps making their way toward him. Before Ichigo had the chance to look up from his paperwork, he felt something pelt his head rapidly.

"Captain, you idiot, when someone knocks on the door you're supposed to let them in!"

"Ack, Momo knock it off, and I told you to just call me Ichigo!" his attempt to protect his head failing horribly.

She only whacked harder, the paperwork in her hands crumpling in her grip. Finally, after what Ichigo deemed to be an eternity, she stopped, huffing as she laid the deformed paperwork on his desk. Ichigo groaned, watching the endless mountain become even more endless.

Momo smiled lightly at her new captain. After Aizen's defeat, she began to find herself scrutinizing Ichigo heavily as word was spread around of him becoming captain of the fifth division. As time went on, she found herself basking in the never ending kindness that was her captain. She found it all too true what the other soul reapers had said about Ichigo and his objective to protect as many as he can. Momo remembered the way she had felt about Aizen, realizing she had never experienced true warmth from him, but had been trying to seek it out from him. Ichigo however, gave that to everyone on a daily basis, never short of a supply.

A hell butterfly flitted in through the open window of Ichigo's office. Briefly looking up, he stuck his finger out, letting the butterfly land on it. A moment passed, before it flew back the way it came, disappearing outside. Ichigo stood up, looking towards Momo, "Hey Momo, can you take care of the rest for me? They're calling for all the captains."

Momo nodded her head, "Sure thing _Captain_ Kurosaki."

Ichigo grumbled as he left, cursing the old man as he made his way towards the meeting.

Making it in record time, the doors to the meeting room closed on his heels as he flash stepped into the room. Stepping over to his designated spot, he glanced over at the Head Captain, seeing the disdainful glare being sent his way at his tardiness.

* * *

Ichigo sighed as he walked out of the meeting room, scratching the back of his head. _Another boring meeting_.

"Do you ever change your ways, boy?"

Ichigo turned around, scowl deepening at the voice. "I could say the same to you too, Byakuya."

Byakuya grunted before passing by Ichigo, leaving swiftly to return to his duties. Ichigo sighed again, making his way back to his division's barracks. Along the way he spotted Toshiro muttering angrily to himself.

Ichigo raised his eyebrow as Toshiro saw him. "Hey Toshiro, something up?"

"That's Captain Hitsu- oh... greetings Kurosaki. Yes, Rangiku has made off yet again neglecting her duties."

Ichigo shook his head, knowing all too well how it felt with Momo and her "girl's night out". "Yeah, good luck with finding her."

Toshiro nodded, and they both continued on their ways.

Ichigo looked up into the darkening sky, thinking about how far he had come. From invading the Soul Society, to becoming a captain of said society. He marveled at the feats he had accomplished, but still felt like he had more to do. It felt like there was one last thing, something that would finally bring it all to a close, one last lingering shadow, something clinging to him. Shaking his head, Ichigo continued on to the barracks, ridding his mind of the thoughts.

Just as Ichigo was about to enter the barracks, he sensed it. A hollow had entered the Rukongai. Ichigo tried his best to narrow his senses, but the closest he could come to was the general direction. Immediately he sped off in what he hoped to be the direction. Ichigo blinked, the hollow disappearing from his senses the moment he left the Seireitei. Luckily, he had already memorized the area he had felt it coming from, and started heading towards it.

As Ichigo approached where he thought he had felt the hollow, he quickly put his soul reaper uniform over his captain's haori, giving him the appearance of a regular soul reaper, as he had heard how the people reacted to soul reapers, let alone captains, in the 80th district. Ichigo stopped moving, finding himself in the middle of a dirt path, shacks lining the sides of the path, and shady characters standing in the shadows of some of the shacks. Feeling their eyes on him, he began slowly walking down the path, away from where he had come in.

He could barely sense it now, being this close it was impossible for the hollow to fully hide itself. Ichigo felt Zangetsu shift slightly on his back as he kept stopping every couple of seconds to sweep his gaze over the shacks on both sides of him. Concentrating harder, he tried to pinpoint the location of the hollow, wishing he had taken Hachigen on those energy sensing lessons.

 _ **Tap tap**_. Ichigo turned around, rubbing his hand over his shoulder, seeing a group of raggedy men forming a semicircle behind him, one man in particular right in front of him, having tapped his shoulder from behind.

"Didya not hear what we said, huh soul reaper?"

Ichigo only gave them a questioning look.

"I said, drop your stuff, and put your hands on your head, now." The men surrounding Ichigo shot him menacing looks, taking out hidden or semi-hidden weapons from behind their backs. The weapons were all crude, some of them almost fully broken apart, ranging from axes to swords to daggers.

Ichigo palmed his forehead lightly, shaking his head at the group of bandits. "Listen guys, as much as I want to knock your lights out, I've got some stuff to do, beat it."

Turning back around, he took one step before sensing the incoming dagger aimed at his back. Knowing the man behind him was right handed, he quickly side stepped to the right. Spinning on the spot, he brought his right elbow into the man's wrist, the dagger falling from his hand, simultaneously slamming his left palm into the man's jaw, knocking him out immediately as he was throwing across the dirt path.

Ichigo returned his gaze to the bandits, their look of fear attached to their faces. He knew it would only take one of them to find the tiniest bit of courage to spark the rest. Considering how boring that day had been though, he didn't bother trying to extinguish the flame of courage.

"There's only one of him, there's no way he can take us on. Get him!"

The men all rushed Ichigo, clearly with no plan or strategy, as some of them almost tripped over the others making their way to get to Ichigo first. A smirk graced Ichigo's face, waiting until the last moment before the first weapon could make contact. He disappeared, before reappearing back exactly where he had stood. Turning around, he began walking back towards his original destination. Behind him, it looked like time had frozen still, as the group of bandits remained in their positions for a few more moments, before they all toppled down on to the ground, unconscious.

Ichigo kept walking until he reached the end of the village, a forest similar to the one behind the garden at the fifth division's barracks, though this one was noticeably hollow, the bare trees and rocks that littered the forest floor offering little comfort.

Ichigo walked into the forest, feeling the hollow's presence more and more. He frowned, realizing the power emanating from the hollow even at the level it had hidden itself was greater than that of a Menos Grande. Slowly, he unsheathed Zangetsu, bringing it slightly in front of him as he continued deeper into the forest.

He was almost on top of the presence now, but still no sight could be made of it. Then he heard it, a noise he knew all too well from his days in Las Noches. A garganta opening. He quickly dashed forward, a clearing suddenly upon him. Looking further ahead, he saw three figures garbed in white speeding into the closing garganta.

Thinking fast, Ichigo quickly grabbed the cloth hanging from Zangetsu's hilt, giving it a quick spin before hurtling it towards the garganta. Just before Zangetsu could reach the figures, he pulled back on the cloth, his zanpakuto narrowly missing the garganta closing down on it.

Ichigo frowned. He knew exactly what those figures were. Arrancar. But to him, it didn't make sense, all the arrancar had been killed in the war. _No, if that were true, Nel wouldn't be alive, and if she's alive, then that means the others could_ _be too_ , Ichigo thought. He summoned a hell butterfly, dictating a brief message of his findings, sending it off to the Head Captain. Ichigo had almost completely forgotten about Nelliel's return, knowing he needed to check on her before others accidentally did.

Activating his flash step, he sped off towards the Seireitei, and more specifically, the main senkaimon. Seeing it was already open from another squad entering from the World of the Living, he flash stepped inside, no one else able to see him at his massive speed. Exiting through the other side, he landed lightly on the streets of Karakura Town.

Ichigo smiled at the familiar sight, taking a brief moment to take in the scene of his home town, the moon offering a gentle light. Reaching his senses out, he could feel his friends and his family, a few unknown soul reapers, some dealing with hollows. Scowl returning, he headed off in the direction of 'Mr. Hat-n-Clogs".

Arriving at the front door, he spotted a small girl sweeping imaginary dust on the ground. Hearing his footsteps, she looked up at Ichigo, offering him a gentle smile.

"Hey Ururu, how's it going?"

"Hi Mr. Kurosaki, we haven't had the shop destroyed in approximately sixty-seven days."

Ichigo only shook his head, used to the weird greetings that always came from Ururu. "Hey, is he in tonight? Got some stuff I need to talk to him about."

Ururu nodded her head, opening the door for him. "He should be in the basement with your friend."

Giving his thanks, he gave her hair a ruffle before making his way down to the basement. As he got closer and closer, he could hear what sounded like a fight. Growing worried for the safety of Nelliel, he hurriedly made his way down. Finally reaching the basement, he looked around for the source of the clashing.

Ichigo attempted to peek around a boulder, before it suddenly exploded, something flung into his chest and sent him flying away into a wall made of rocks. _Almost like the time Nel decided to head butt me_. Ichigo blinked. He blinked again. Slowly he looked down, realizing it felt the exact same as when she had, except without the extreme amount of strength that Nelliel's head butts were usually capable of. A mass of green hair was lying on his chest.

"Nel?"

The green hair lifted, followed by bright hazel eyes looking back into his own. "Ichigo!"

This time however, there was no sickening back crunching, just a comfortable hug, perhaps a bit too comfortable for Ichigo, from Nel.

Ending the hug, he looked over Nelliel's shoulder, hearing something approaching. The sight before him only made him assume the worst. Kisuke Urahara was flying towards them, Benihime out already swinging towards them at full force.


	4. The 'New' Arrivals

**A/N: Thank you for the cool reviews folks!**

Debris spewed forth from the destruction of another boulder. Carefully dodging the flying projectiles, he kept his eyes on his attacker, waiting to make his counter.

"Go Ichigo!" Nel was bouncing up and down, happily grinning as she cheered Ichigo on.

Quickly, Ichigo looked back to where he opponent was, only to find the spot devoid of the former captain. Seeing red glowing on the ground in front of him, he rolled to his right, dodging the red energy fired, and spun around meeting the oncoming Benihime with Zangetsu. Ichigo looked into Kisuke's emotionless face, as they repeatedly clashed together.

Ichigo knew the man attacking him wouldn't answer any of his questions, considering the time when Ichigo had trained with him. Instead, he opted to simply fight and wait for when Kisuke was ready to answer. He wasn't going to let Kisuke off that easily though, and decided to up the pressure on his attacks, beginning to flash step more often while pouring more strength into his attacks.

Kisuke grimaced as Ichigo landed a particularly hard blow, clanging against Benihime. Still recoiling from the attack, Kisuke jumped backwards, narrowly evading what had at first seemed like Ichigo thrusting Zangetsu straight towards him. He realized his mistake too late, too focused on getting out of range to notice Ichigo had thrown his zanpakuto.

Ichigo grinned, already knowing Kisuke's last option to defend himself. A shield of blood mist colour appeared right in the path of Zangetsu. However, before Zangetsu could hit the shield it disappeared. Kisuke sighed, feeling the tip of Ichigo's zanpakuto lightly parting the hair on the back of his head.

Reverting Benihime back to its normal state, he turned around with both of his hands held up in a gesture of surrender. "Looks like you win, Ichigo."

Chuckling nervously, Kisuke watched as Ichigo continued to stand there, no motion being made to lower Zangetsu. Hoping today wasn't his last day to live, he glanced around searching for the exit out of the basement.

"Uh, Ichigo, is something the matter?"

Kisuke recoiled as he felt Ichigo's fist bonk his head. Rubbing it sorely, he pouted at Ichigo, who only glared harder at Kisuke. "How about next time you warn me before you come at me like that? If it hadn't been for Nel, I would've thought you were trying to kill me!"

In truth, Nelliel actually hadn't done anything to warn Ichigo either. Ichigo knew Nelliel used to be rank 3 when she had been part of the Espada, and so he could tell that had Nelliel wanted to, she could fight Kisuke on her own or at least have escaped. Plus, if Kisuke had wanted to kill Nelliel, there was no way they would've been fighting for the entire day that Ichigo had spent in the Soul Society.

After the three finally regrouped with their weapons sheathed, they made their way back up into Kisuke's living room. Looking around, Ichigo noted it still looked the same as always. _Some thing's never change, do they,_ Ichigo wondered. As the three of them sat down around the table, Tessai walked in and set down a tray with three cups of tea, before leaving.

Kisuke gingerly picked up a cup of tea, blowing on it briefly before taking a sip. Setting it down, he looked at Ichigo. "So, knowing you I assume there is some grand fairy tale as to why a former Espada was sent to me to be hidden from the Soul Society by the man that saved the Soul Society from the Espada themselves?"

Ichigo cringed. He knew that anyone besides his friends that had been with him when they had journeyed with Nel would have a hard time believing his trust in her.

"So, what do you need my help with this time?"

"Listen, I know this will be hard to believe, but-." Ichigo stopped, staring wide-eyed at Kisuke. "Well wait, don't you want to hear what I have to say first?"

Kisuke shook his head. "Ichigo, I've been with you long enough to know you wouldn't just put your trust randomly in someone, let alone an arrancar. I know there's also no chance the arrancar threatened you into doing this, considering I've experienced firsthand just how strong you are."

Ichigo let a small smile grace his face for a second, dropping back into his scowl as he remembered the more important news. "She's not the only one, I saw three others."

Kisuke only nodded.

"A-and well, they appeared in the Soul Society, but I wasn't able to catch them."

Kisuke nodded again.

Ichigo gave a death glare. "Hey, are you even listening?"

Kisuke sighed. "Yes, I've known about the arrancar for quite a bit now."

"Wait what? What do you mean by 'quite a bit'? Just how long have these new arrancar been around for?"

"Well... they're actually not 'new'."

Ichigo leaned forward, giving a quick glance to see that Nelliel had fallen asleep, and focused his eyes back on Kisuke. "Just what the hell are you getting at Kisuke?"

"The ones that were with Aizen, the ones we thought we had killed. They're back." Seeing Ichigo quickly stand up, Kisuke quickly leaned over and sat Ichigo back down. "But not all of them Ichigo, only a few of them, and they hadn't done anything suspicious until the event you told me of."

"Do you know where they are now?"

"And if I did? You're going to rushing there right now, aren't you?"

Ichigo's frustration grew, clenching his fists as he rose his spiritual pressure a bit.

Kisuke only raised his hands. "Relax Ichigo, I didn't say I'm not going to tell you. They're in Hueco Mundo, in fact, they're hiding out in the remains of Las Noches."

"How soon can you send me there?"

Hiding his smile behind his signature fan, Kisuke noted the determined look, one that no one had seen in a long time come from the man sitting across from Kisuke. It was the same look Ichigo gave when he was facing down Aizen. The same look that let everyone know that Ichigo was going protect everyone. "Meet me here tomorrow at noon, the portal will be ready when you get here."

Ichigo nodded, before giving a pointed look at Nelliel. Kisuke only waved his hands, assuring Ichigo that she would be able to stay with at the shop for the time being.

"Oh, and you'd best head back to the Soul Society soon, you're going to be needed shortly."

Ichigo gave Kisuke a questioning look, but dismissed the cryptic message as was usual for Kisuke to do. Getting up, he gave his good byes to Kisuke and the still sweeping Ururu, heading back to the Soul Society.

* * *

Entering into the Soul Society, Ichigo looked up at the bright sky.

"Ichigo where the hell have you been?" Ichigo looked in front of him to see Renji huffing in exhaustion. "We've been looking all over the place for you, hurry up or you'll be late!"

"What's wrong Renji, something happen?"

"I've got no idea, they're calling a captains meeting, apparently it's pretty urgent, so you better get your ass there before the Head Captain decides to do it himself!"

Nodding once, Ichigo flash stepped towards the meeting room, wondering what could be the cause of alarm now.


	5. New Journey

Ichigo stood, waiting for the Head Captain to begin. This meeting wasn't like the last, the Head Captain getting straight to the point. Ever since the war, the Soul Society had placed several sensors in Hueco Mundo in case beings of such power were to ever appear again. Recently, powers had spiked to levels of arrancar, though it was suspected that those powers had been hiding even before, all that was certain was that unknown forces had suddenly decided to show themselves.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi was first to speak among the captains, giving an approximate that just about all the powers detected were captain level, a few at lieutenant. To Mayuri's annoyance, the sensors could not detect where the powers were coming from, only that they were being picked up.

After Mayuri's report, a discussion was held as to what to do. Kenpachi loudly stated that he should be allowed to go and get rid of them all himself, but was ignored as usual from the rest. Soi Fon recommended they send a task force designated to scout out the area and depending on what they found, send an appropriate force to deal with the unknown beings. To everyone's surprise, Byakuya said that perhaps the beings there weren't hostile, and that while they should still send out a scouting party, they should instead send out an ambassador to question them of their intentions. After a few more recommendations, mainly from Kenpachi and his requests to fight, the Head Captain decided on Byakuya's idea. The only question then was who would be the ambassador? It would have to be someone immeasurably strong, even among the captains, especially with several captain level powers being detected. It would also have to be someone who had gone to Hueco Mundo before, as they would know the general layout and are used to the environment. The last part was that the person must be a charismatic figure, someone who can persuade even the toughest of opponents. Of course, all eyes settled on Ichigo.

Ichigo walked out of the meeting room, cursing Kisuke in his mind for knowing Ichigo would be picked. He had no idea the others thought of him as being charismatic, but with him having invaded the Soul Society and coming out alive, even becoming friends with those he had fought, charismatic was an understatement.

Annoying as the events had been, Ichigo was glad he had been picked. When he had heard Kisuke say the old arrancar were somehow still alive, he knew he wanted to be the one to go meet them. Ichigo had found out through Nelliel how some of the Espada had not wanted to follow Aizen, but were blinded in the process. He couldn't let it be anyone else, there was no doubt they would attack the former Espada on sight.

Ichigo sighed. He was given the day to rest, but he would be leaving immediately tomorrow, of course, at noon. When asked if Ichigo wanted to take anyone with him, he decided against it. He knew that if things were to go bad, he wouldn't be able to fight at full power knowing he could accidentally harm whoever he had brought with him.

Ichigo walked up to the bar, _The Lone Reaper_ , and stepped inside. His senses were flooded with rambunctious laughter, the smell of sake, and the general rowdiness that a crowd of drunkards held. Standing at his full height, Ichigo looked over the sea of soul reapers, finding his friends sitting in a booth in a corner. Traversing the maze of people, he made his way over and took a seat beside a very red faced Renji.

"A-and then… and then… he slips on his own zanpakuto and kills it!" A roar of laughter was heard from two other occupants, Izuru and Shuhei.

Looking across from him, Ichigo noted the sour look on Rukia's face as she glared at her boyfriend for being drunk. Ichigo smirked, the hypocrisy evident as he could tell Rukia was just as drunk as Renji, but there was no use in trying to tell her. Taking a glance around the table, he couldn't help wondering where the last two of their group were, and decided to ask the only seemingly sane person in their group besides himself. "Hey Nanao, where're Rangiku and Shunsui?"

Pushing her glasses up, Nanao gave a pointed look towards Ichigo. "Captain Hitsugaya came earlier and took her away, and I made sure to give my own captain two extra mountains of paperwork."

Looking down at the table, Nanao delicately slid a drink towards him. Ichigo thanked her, accepting the orange juice. It was a rather odd relationship that had formed between Nanao and Ichigo, being the two of the three of their group that disliked alcohol, the third being Toshiro, they had a tendency to coordinate with the other when the group became rowdier than normal. Nanao would usually gravitate towards Toshiro, seeing as she knew him longer, but Ichigo was known for his aggressive attitude and not taking no for an answer. Shunsui would always tease Nanao that maybe she should be dating Ichigo instead of him, but Nanao would end the teasing quickly with another stack of paperwork.

Ichigo glared as Shuhei's drink slid towards him, a bit of his drink sloshing out of the cup and onto Ichigo's uniform. Glad that he had taken his haori off, he sent a menacing glare at Shuhei, who was too busy playing pattycake with Renji.

Had Ichigo known what was coming next, he would've whipped out Zangetsu and cut the bar down before they could've convinced him of taking part, but he was oblivious, and the roar of the crowd was making Ichigo agree to something he shouldn't have, just so they could leave faster.

"Hey Ichigo~, wanna join us in a game?" The singsong voice of the four drunks irritated Ichigo's ears, but he decided to accept in hopes they would never try to sing again.

"Alright fine, what's the game?"

The four of the looked between each other, before looking at Ichigo with sloppy grins. "Truth or Dare!"

Ichigo groaned. He knew he couldn't get out of it, having already said he would play, otherwise they would torment him until the end of days about his cowardness. Izuru grabbed Renji's bottle, ignoring his cry of protest as he downed the drink, before placing it on the table horizontally. He gave it a big spin, the six of them watching in anticipation. Finally the bottle slowed down, landing on Rukia.

"Truth or dare Rukia?"

Rukia looked nervously at Renji, a storm within her mind as she attempted to figure out which one she should pick. "Dar-no, truth!"

Renji facepalmed, causing looks of wonderment from the group. Izuru only grinned. "What's the most embarrassing secret you've got right now?"

Apparently, the word 'secret' seemed to have slipped through Rukia's ears, as she proudly stood up before shouting out, "Renji and I are engaged!"

Silence. Rukia realized what she said and sat back down, eyes glued to the floor as her already red face turned even redder. A loud slap could be heard as Renji had facepalmed again twice as hard. And then, just as suddenly as the announcement, clapping. Rukia looked up, tears in her eyes as she saw everyone, even the soul reapers in the bar, clapping for them. Sliding herself beside Renji, she gave him a sloppy kiss before melting into his side, the embarrassment of the announcement long forgotten.

Deciding it was high time for Ichigo to leave, he got up and bade his farewell, setting off for his barracks. The Soul Society was eventually enveloped in darkness as Ichigo walked, his mind entering a state of relaxation, the night's events causing him to briefly forget the troublesome events that had occurred recently.

Ichigo stopped, feeling a presence behind him. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow as the person walked up to him.

"H-hi Cap- I mean Ichigo."

"Momo, what are you doing out here?"

Momo fidgeted with with the fabric of her uniform, eyes flitting around nervously. "W-well, I uh, I was wondering if you were okay, s-so I came out to find you a-and well here you are."

"Is something wrong Momo?"

"No… no nothing's wrong, sorry, with all the fuss going about I just got a bit worried." Momo transitioned from fidgeting to awkwardly tapping her fingers together.

Ichigo could tell what Momo was going through, having experienced it enough with his own little sisters. "Don't worry Momo, I'm a captain, I won't die that easily."

Momo smiled, feeling her fears leave her for the most part. She nodded to Ichigo, showing she was fine now, and began their trek towards the division barracks.

As they walked, Momo made small talk, Ichigo mostly listening. Unbeknownst to Momo, Ichigo's own fear was still there. He feared for his friends and family, both those in the World of the Living and those in the Soul Society. But most of all, he feared for Nelliel. He couldn't shake away the strong desire to protect her, having at first believed that it was the same desire he felt for everyone else. Ichigo could tell now that was no longer the case. It wasn't just the desire to protect, it was the desire to feel her warmth, the desire to be able to see her. Ichigo would not have it though, he dared not. Falling for someone from the spiritual world was one thing, falling for an arrancar was wholly different.

Ichigo gazed into the night sky above, briefly wondering if the Soul Society would ever extend to the stars beyond like humanity had.

Eventually their walk ended, Momo giving a good night as she went to her quarters. Ichigo stood outside the door to his own, not quite feeling tired. Back at home, Ichigo used to take nightly walks when he couldn't sleep, finding them relaxing, but he had already gone on one. Feeling the weight of Zangetsu shift slightly, he decided to try another method of relaxation, and made his way towards the training grounds.

Upon entering the area, he looked around for anyone else, and was satisfied to see he was alone. Taking out Zangetsu, he sat down cross-legged, Ichigo laid out his zanpakuto horizontally on his lap. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate, the outside world drowning away into nothingness. Had anyone seen Ichigo, they would've noticed a small smile gracing his lips.

Ichigo groaned as he got up from his bed, letting out a loud yawn in the process. Glancing over at the clock, he saw the time was 10:00 AM.

After finishing his morning routine and giving his division a brief drill, he set out for the senkaimon. A brief questioning by the guards, and he was through, heading to the World of the Living.

Ichigo arrived at Kisuke's shop, seeing the door open. Taking that as a welcome sign, he headed in and went down into the basement.

Finally reaching the basement, he saw the gate being set up in the distance, two fuzzy green outlines beside it. Flash stepping towards the gate, he began to make out the features of Kisuke Urahara and Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck.

After giving their greetings, he watched Kisuke go back to tampering with the gate. "Hey, I thought you said it was going to be ready when I got here?"

Kisuke sighed. "Well, due to a certain arrancar living with me, I had to learn the hard way that her 'help' translates into 'the destruction of everything as we know it'."

Nelliel giggled uncontrollably, while Ichigo shook his head, having forgotten to warn the scientist of Nelliel's tendency to blow things up.

After a few more minutes of tampering, Kisuke announced the gate was ready. "Now remember Ichigo, it's just like last time, create a path in front of you, and don't stop moving."

Ichigo nodded, him and Nelliel preparing to run in, until Ichigo noticed Nelliel's preparation. "Hey wait a second Nel, you can't come with me!"

Ichigo immediately regretted saying anything, a pang of guilt hitting him as he saw the hurt look Nelliel's face adopted. "W-well, I… urgh… Nel, stop with that face… alright, alright fine!" Ichigo sighed, and then looked over at Kisuke. "You'll find a way to cover this up, right?"

Kisuke smiled knowingly and nodded.

Sighing again, Ichigo gave a brief countdown before they both jumped in, the gate closing down behind them.

Realizing the darkness he had yet to create a path, Ichigo began to make one or at least tried to make a path in the first place. Both Nelliel's and Ichigo's eyes widened when the entire world seemed to turn a whitish blue. Scratching the back of his head, Ichigo grinned sheepishly at Nelliel, who only rolled her eyes, forgetting to rein in his seemingly unlimited spiritual power.

Exiting the gate, they both rocketed towards the sand below them, but unlike the other times with Ichigo, they both landed softly, making barely any noise. Looking around, they noticed the gleaming walls of the castle in front of them. Las Noches.

 _ **Boom.**_


	6. Black and White

**A/N: I may or may not have uploaded this at about 11:55 PM last night, fixed some missing line breaks and grammatical errors, sorry 'bout that everyone, tiredness gets me hard.**

"Why don't you watch where you're going you damn gorilla!"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you from all the way down there!"

"Well maybe if you get those damn jugs out of your face, you might be able to actually hear something in the first place!"

"What'd you say about my babies?"

"You heard exactly what I said!"

Ichigo and Nelliel stared at the two women, who had pressed their foreheads angrily into each other's, sparks arcing off around them. Ichigo cleared his throat, garnering their attention. It took a moment before their eyes widened, weapons immediately whipped out and flaring their spiritual pressure. Ichigo and Nelliel only stood there, watching as the two women scrambled to gain their senses. It probably didn't help that Nelliel was still garbed in the spare soul reaper uniform.

A third figure appeared, this time of a woman hiding her face behind her sleeve, and before long, a fourth appeared, her collar hiding the majority of her face as she stared down Ichigo and Nelliel.

"Don't worry Lady Harribel, we'll take care of these two soul reap-," The woman with the mismatching eyes stopped talking, the one Ichigo figured to be Harribel walked towards them. Harribel noticed that neither of the two she was walking towards made a move to draw their weapons, and could tell it wasn't out of fear.

Harribel brought her eyes to Nelliel. "Who are you, and why do you feel exactly like us?"

Nelliel's face was serious now, no evidence of her childlike demeanour on her face. Turning around, she lifted up the back of her uniform, gasps being heard by the three woman behind Harribel. Putting it back down, she turned around and fixed Harribel with a steel gaze.

Looking cautiously between the two figures, Harribel's mind tried its best to come up with why the former third Espada was roaming around with a soul reaper. Her mind was forced to take a giant leap back, cursing her lack of observation when she noticed the captain's haori Ichigo was wearing.

"Aizen's dead."

Harribel whipped her face towards Ichigo's eyes. "And if I were to believe that, then who killed him?"

Slowly bringing out his fist so as not to alarm the four arrancar, Ichigo stuck his thumb out towards himself.

Harribel narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you, Aizen is much stronger than any soul reaper captain, probably strong enough to have killed you all by himself."

Ichigo shook his head, voice still calm as he spoke. "Well, I wasn't a captain at the time, in fact, I wasn't even a full soul reaper either."

Harribel glanced at her companions behind her, then back to Ichigo and Nelliel. Sighing she nodded her head towards the two strangers. "Come, I want you to tell me everything."

She lead the two of them inside Las Noches, her three companions surrounding them, until they reached what appeared to be a dining hall, though a large hole was poking through the ceiling, the fake light shining through. Ichigo and Nelliel sat down, Harribel sitting at the end of the table while her companions stood guard around the table.

* * *

"So then… it's… over?"

Ichigo nodded.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off the four arrancar's shoulders, all of them visibly relieved that Aizen's reign had been put to an end. Harribel soon went back to her cautious self, not wanting to believe the soul reaper so easily.

"Forgive me, but words alone aren't enough to convince me, I'd like to see this power for myself." Nelliel was glaring at Harribel now, but she simply ignored it in favour of blankly looking at Ichigo.

Nodding his head, they set off a ways outside of the castle.

Finally coming to what Harribel deemed a safe distance, she nodded her towards Ichigo, signalling to stop. "Standard spar rules."

Unsheathing Tiburon, she stood there a few moments, waiting for Ichigo to take out his zanpakuto. Ichigo made no move, still standing there waiting. Seeing her companions getting angry, she put her hand up, telling them to relax.

"Do you really believe you can take me on without your zanpakuto?"

"Don't know, we'll just have to see." Ichigo was smirking now, but no hint of malice could be seen on his face, or his tone.

* * *

Harribel's three companions were terrified. Ichigo had forced Harribel into using her resureccion without using his own zanpakuto. Even in that mode, she was still being forced on the defense, Ichigo's insane spiritual power and speed allowing him to weave in and out of her strikes, occasionally landing a punch or a kick. Eventually, Harribel grew tired of Ichigo's lack of seriousness, and fired a widespread cero at Ichigo. Instead of attempting to dodge, Ichigo focused his spiritual power into his hand, causing it to glow blue as he slashed upwards with it, splitting the cero in two.

Using the cero as cover, Harribel was already bringing her sword downwards on Ichigo, who simply stood there. Right before the blade could connect, all motion stopped for Harribel, her eyes widening at the sight before her. Ichigo had grabbed her zanpakuto with his index finger and his thumb. Immediately, Harribel sent out a point blank cero, jumping back when Ichigo decided to dodge this time and allowing her to retrieve Tiburon.

As the battle progressed, Harribel was slowly becoming more and more annoyed, Ichigo not once using his zanpakuto. Having enough of it, she readied a gran rey cero, timing it the moment Ichigo jumped in front of Nelliel. For a split second, Harribel saw Ichigo's eyes suddenly turn dark, his realization of Harribel's plan changing his demeanour.

 _ **Bzzt**_. Harribel blinked. Ichigo was standing directly in front her, glowing finger resting lightly on her forehead. There was only one feeling emanating from the man in front of her. Death.

And then it was gone. Ichigo took a few steps away, bringing his hand back down to his side. "That good enough for you?"

Harribel nodded, her throat dry, feeling fear she had only felt Aizen give her resurface.

Ichigo stuck his hand out towards Harribel. "Ichigo."

She looked at the hand, then back at his face, before slowly sticking her hand out to meet his. "Tier."

The group walked back to the castle, Tier introducing her fraccion, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun, while Ichigo introduced Nelliel.

Sitting back down at the dining table, Ichigo looked on in amusement at Tier's fraccion, this time standing as far away as possible from Ichigo.

"So, what did you come here for? Obviously not to kill us or you would have done it earlier."

Ichigo nodded, and began to tell of the Soul Society's alert.

Tier became confused, and decided to voice the question ever present in her head. "Why help us?"

"The same reason you decided to talk to me. I don't want to fight, and don't try to tell me just because you're arrancar you don't have feelings." Ichigo pointed his thumb at Nelliel, "I've had enough first hand experience to know you guys are the same as us. Human."

None of it made sense to Tier, and yet it all made sense. She couldn't tell why the person who should've hated them wanted to help them.

"That doesn't mean I want to be friends." The three girls surrounding the table visibly stiffened. "But that doesn't mean I want to be enemies either, I'd rather we just live our own lives."

Tier nodded, and the three girls relaxed again, Apacci giving a rather loud sigh of relief.

"What about you though, why didn't you attack me?"

"For the same reason."

They both felt it at the same time. Another massive spiritual pressure had entered the area, heading straight for the castle. Ichigo stood up along with Nelliel, Tier knowingly backing away from the double doors leading to the room.

The doors burst open in a frenzy, a figure as tall as Ichigo walked in, feral grin accompanying. "So you've finally come back for the rematch, eh?"


	7. Old Rivals

Grimmjow didn't have a chance to move any further, a green blur that Ichigo was familiar with ramming into him, crashing through the walls and outside. Eyes wide around the table, they all stared at the hole in the wall, stunned at how quickly Grimmjow's appearance and disappearance happened.

Nelliel glared down at the blue haired arrancar, foot sitting on his chest. Blood was dribbling down Grimmjow's chin, who only smirked at her. "So, he's got his own bit-."

Grimmjow didn't have a chance to finish, Nelliel brought her foot up, then back down with extreme force on his chest, causing him to cough violently in an attempt to regain control of his breathing. Once he simply lay there gasping, Nelliel brought her face eerily close to Grimmjow's, who could only feel as though a noose was being tied around his neck.

"I don't care if you insult me, but if you dare attack Ichigo," she paused for effect, "you're dead."

Grimmjow tried to laugh, but the pain threw him into a coughing fit once more. Behind the duo, the rest of the group slowly trudged outside, watching the scene unfold. Ichigo grimaced, knowing just how much pain the former third Espada could inflict without realizing, though now that he thought about, she definitely knew how much pain she was causing.

Sitting up, Grimmjow looked curiously at the group of arrancar. "So, you finally got your own harem, eh? How the hell did a soul reaper like you achieve that? Is it the muscles? The size of your zanpakuto? Oh I know, it's that orange hair!"

Tier stood, arms held out at her sides to stop the rest of her fraccion from trying to tear him apart, Nelliel stood with her stare of contempt, and Ichigo simply sighed, hand resting on his face to hide his blush.

After a few minutes of calming the group down, Ichigo led them back into the dining hall once more, this time everyone sitting down at the table. Half an hour passed as Ichigo and Tier explained the circumstances to a surprisingly patient Grimmjow, who only nodded along.

"And so, we're going to need your help to-,"

"Wait just a second, who the hell said I'd help you losers out?" Grimmjow interrupted, a snide look on his face.

Apacci's voice rang out a second later. "That's it! I can't take this anymore, he doesn't wanna help us, he keeps insulting us, let's just give him to the soul reapers!"

Ichigo watched as the bickering between the two grew more intense, the rest of Tier's fraccion joining the fray. Deciding quickly, he knew there was only one way to convince Grimmjow. "You'll get to fight."

Everyone paused, first looking at Ichigo, then to see Grimmjow's reaction. "I'll do it."

A collective facepalm was heard among the others, Grimmjow simply grinning idiotically proud. A realization hit Ichigo, making him frown. "Just how many of you have been revived?"

Looking around the table, everyone gave shrugs. Apparently they had all revived in different spots, Tier's fraccion and Tier herself having revived somewhat close to Las Noches. Grimmjow had revived all the way in the Menos Grande forests. As far as they all knew, no other arrancar were alive or had been revived even further away.

"Or they already left this world… to the World of the Living." Tier looked around at the surprised faces. "Though that would be a small possibility, the soul reapers have been quite active there lately ever since the war."

"For now we'll just have to act as if you're the only ones that were revived, unless we find them or they find us." Heads nodded around the table at Ichigo's plan.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, or as relaxing as could be with the constant arguing between Tier's fraccion and Grimmjow. Ichigo began wondering about the arrancar. Ever since he met Nelliel, he realized that they were just as emotional as soul reapers were, the only difference being the negative emotions they experienced heavily throughout their time spent in Hueco Mundo. Even now, he had somehow convinced the people who had been his natural enemy that they were on the same side, and were talking amongst each other like friends.

Looking around at their group, Ichigo smiled. Throughout the journey, his mind had been plagued with doubts about whether or not he was doing the right thing, but seeing the way everyone interacted with each other, the doubts evaporated, a serene feeling replacing them. But as he sat there, his smile slowly turned back into his scowl. Ichigo knew they didn't have much longer before the soul reapers came, and there was no way they would give the treatment they gave Ichigo after he had invaded to the arrancar.

"Worried?"

Ichigo turned around, familiar hazel eyes gazing at him. Rubbing his temples, Ichigo replied, "Yeah, I can't find a way to get through this without a fight."

Nelliel sighed. She knew Ichigo would want to protect everyone, even his former enemies. This battle was one that didn't seem to allow him to do either. It seemed destined that one side would have to lose, the question was which side Ichigo would choose, or if he even would choose a side. Walking up to Ichigo, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, I believe in you, no matter what."

Ichigo found himself lost in her eyes, just like before. It wasn't until a table flew past them, courtesy of Apacci's frustration, that Ichigo realized just how close they were. Ichigo drew back, a little too quickly, as he saw the hurt on Nelliel's face. "Sorry, I better check on the group, make sure they aren't destroying Las Noches again."

Nelliel nodded, watching Ichigo walk away. She placed her hand on her chest, feeling the warmth spread throughout her as she thought about him. At first, the feelings had greatly confused her, but she had contributed it to him being her first ever soul reaper friend. After a while, the feelings didn't leave, in fact they grew. Grew to the point where Nelliel always wanted to be by Ichigo's side, to be able to lose herself in his eyes, his strength, his need to protect those around him. If it weren't for the shows she watched while she stayed with Kisuke, she would've never been able to identify the feeling. _Love._ Or was it? Nelliel was still unsure. It made her both scared and happy, but also sad when she began to wonder if it was even possible for them to love each other, let alone Ichigo reciprocating the feelings.

Nelliel watched solemnly as Ichigo shouted at the former sixth Espada, who was only laughing as he continued to smash apart walls, a bittersweet smile settling on her face.

* * *

The next day, they left Las Noches, deciding that the area would become extremely risky as the soul reapers would likely send several squads at once to survey the castle. Where they went, they didn't know, only that they needed to get far away from any locations the soul reapers would know of.

During the afternoon, Ichigo and the former ranked Espada perked up, sensing the opening of gates, soul reapers entering Hueco Mundo. Deciding it was time for a break, they halted on top of a hill overlooking the vast desert. Ichigo was glad that ever since he regained his powers, he had gained the ability to control his spiritual power, able to dampen it to within average soul reaper range, though every now and then a large amount would leak through. The hope was that the soul reapers would attribute it to the sensors malfunctioning, but Ichigo knew Mayuri's shrewd mind would figure it out.

It wasn't until they decided to take the break that what Ichigo had done seemed to finally hit him. He betrayed the Soul Society. He betrayed his friends. He was siding with the ones that tried to hurt his family, though they specifically hadn't tried to. So why was he trying to save them? Perhaps it was the loneliness that he could see inside them that caused him to do it or maybe it was because of the way they had been betrayed by Aizen the way the Soul Society had done to Rukia.

Ichigo wouldn't dare go back on his decision, his stubbornness preventing him from that, but he knew that with his decision would come battles of not just physical nature, but emotional as well.

He could only hope that he wouldn't have to face his dear friends for the first of the coming battles. If only he had known how wrong he was.

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry for the 4 day late update, I recently began working on a oneshot series for something else and I'm finding myself utterly engrossed in it. Thank you so much for the reviews!**


	8. Friendly Foes

Ichigo frowned. There was no doubt Mayuri had figured out he was in Hueco Mundo. Soul reapers were beginning to appear everywhere, each group containing a familiar presence. One of the groups had caught on to their antics, slowly gaining on them.

A discussion took place on a sandy hill as to whether or not they should leave Hueco Mundo. The only other place they could possibly go to was the World of the Living. The idea didn't sit well with Ichigo, not wanting to involve anymore innocent people in a war that should've been long over, but the more time they spent in there, the less of a chance they would be able to avoid the Soul Society.

Cresting over the last of a series of hills, Ichigo peered down at the strange valley below them. Hueco Mundo wasn't exactly known for having anything other than deserts and underground forests. Small lifeless trees dotted the valley, branches that seemed to split off into hundreds of ends spreading out.

"Watch where you're going with your damn blue hair!"

A small smack was heard behind Ichigo. Then a scream of frustration, followed by a loud punch. Something flew into Ichigo's back, sending him tumbling down into the valley. He stopped, thudding against one of the trees lightly.

Ichigo reared back, seeing the 'trees' close up. They weren't trees at all. Tall, thin, grey figures stood, bulbous heads at attention, black hole eyes gazing back at Ichigo. The branches were actually arms, the split ends each a finger of a hand, and instead of legs was simply a trunk of a body, digging into the sand below.

The group neared Ichigo, Apacci gasping as she hid behind Tier. Grimmjow cackled madly, excited at how wicked looking these unknown beings were. Ichigo brought his hand up, slowly bringing it towards the closest figure. Apacci shook her head violently, shouting, "The curious ones are the always the first to die!"

Mila Rose nodded along, Ichigo choosing to simply ignore the two. As soon as he touched the figure, it screamed, branch-like arms flailing wildly. The figures all over the valley began doing the same, screaming a harmonious song of despair. Everyone covered their ears, until Ichigo finally got annoyed and grabbed Zangetsu. Blue light emanated for a second, before he slashed out, a weaker, but still incredibly stronger Getsuga Tenshou tearing its way through the valley.

They stood in surprise, the figures seemingly absorbing the attack until nothing was left. The figures suddenly stopped their screaming, and returned back to normal. Ichigo looked back at the group, then back at the figures. "Let's… _not_ go that way."

The group began turning around, until they felt a pulse of spiritual energy. It was close, almost feeling as though it was over the hill. Ichigo quickly put as much as a lid as he could on his energy, and told the group to get down. Familiar black uniforms appeared on top of the hill. They hid behind the figures, making sure not to touch a single part of them, watching silently.

Footsteps could be heard now, approaching the hidden group. Ichigo placed has hand on Zangetsu, readying himself to fight. The footsteps stopped. Ichigo leaned closer to a figure, attempting to hear what was being said on the other side.

"-coming from here?"

"Positive, it sounded like an alarm of some sort."

"Hrm, it could've been an automatic defense trigger, in which case anything could have triggered it."

"True, but it's the only lead we've got right now, the sensors can't exactly pinpoint their location."

A sigh. "Do you think he's alright?"

Feet shuffled. "We can only hope so."

"But then why would he do it?"

"We don't know for sure yet if he's with them or not, they could've somehow knocked him out or tricked him."

"And if he isn't?"

"Then… then we've truly entered a whole new hell."

Ichigo's knuckles tightened. He could feel the anger, the sadness, the fear radiating from the people talking on the other side. He knew the people viewed him as a hero, and the news of their hero possibly betraying them was bad enough, let alone having to _hunt_ their hero.

The group waited several moments, the talking from the other side lowered into whispers. Ichigo strained even harder to hear, almost fumbling once as his legs got tangled. The hairs on his neck stood up, a feeling of dread suddenly shooting through him. He glanced backwards, and realized why. Grimmjow and Apacci had been forced to hide behind a figure together, but they were so focused on keeping as hidden as possible, Grimmjow didn't notice his hand slip down Apacci's backside. It only took a surprise squeeze from a grinning Grimmjow to earn a squeek accompanied by a harsh slap, sending him tumbling towards a figure.

Shrieks sounded all around them, Ichigo feeling the soul reapers immediately back off, each one flaring their spiritual energy as they prepared to defend themselves.

"Hey, there's someone within the forest!"

Footsteps rang out against the sand, rushing their way towards Ichigo's party. He turned, and shouted as loud as he possibly could over the shrieking. " _Run_!"

The group weaved inbetween the figures, trying to elude the opposing force. Tier's senses perked, feeling a gate opening up ahead of them. She waited for the right moment, and then quickly shot herself through a gap in the trees, landing beside Ichigo. "There's a gate opening up ahead of us, we can use that to escape."

Ichigo nodded. "Alright we'll-"

"It'll lead to the World of the Living."

His eyes widened for a split second, but as he looked around at the mostly fearful faces, he knew there was no choice. Tier and Ichigo shared a look, both nodding at once. They split apart, relaying the plan to the rest of the group.

Right before Ichigo could make his way to Nelliel, a spray of car sized icicles shot forth, almost striking the duo. He knew exactly who those icicles belonged to, and could feel another barrage on its way. Before it could arrive, he snagged Nelliel's hand and sped forth.

The figures finally parted ways, revealing an enormous clearing, the shimmering gate billowing in the middle. "Don't stop, just keep going!" Ichigo spun around as he shouted, drawing Zangetsu and letting go of Nelliel's hand.

A smaller, thinner blade struck, struggling to overpower Ichigo's. Ice blue eyes bore into Ichigo's, anger and confusion present within. Ichigo felt his heart pang, knowing he was the cause of such grief.

"Captain Ichigo Kurosaki, of the Fifth Division, you are under arrest for suspicion of helping enemies of the Soul Society!" Toshiro's voice trembled, trying his hardest to believe Ichigo hadn't raised his blade to defend the arrancar ahead.

Ichigo watched Toshiro slowly lower Hyorinmaru. He glanced up, seeing Matsumoto standing not far off, knuckles white with her grip on her own zanpakuto.

"Why Ichigo? After all you've done for us? Why would you do this?"

Ichigo's eyes returned to Toshiro's. "Didn't I already do this once?"

Toshiro gritted his teeth. "There's a large difference when it comes to defending people that have _actually_ tried to kill innocents!"

The gate cracked, drawing everyone's attention. Ichigo raised Zangetsu once more, steeling his gaze. Turning his head slightly, he growled to his newfound friends, "Go."

Ichigo felt the movement before he saw it, flash stepping to his left and intercepting Matsumoto. He bashed the blunt side of Zangetsu into Haineko, sending her flying to the side, and turned on his heel, once again facing off against Toshiro.

Nelliel looked backwards, watching the spectacle. Ichigo was speeding around, keeping every soul reaper occupied. She waited for the rest of the group to enter the gate. "Ichigo, c'mon, everyone's inside!"

Ichigo appeared in front of Nelliel. She attempted to grab his hand, but instead found herself forced backwards and into the gate. "Wha-?"

The gate closed. Ichigo slowly brought his hand back, facing the soul reapers. "Good, they're safe."

Two blades came from opposite sides of Ichigo, who blocked one with Zangetsu and grabbed the other. "Just give me one reason, _one_ reason why I shouldn't signal the rest?"

"Because they're the same as you dammit! They're misguided, just like the way you guys were, so why is it wrong for me to do the same for them?" Ichigo threw Matsumoto's zanpakuto away, bringing himself to fully face Toshiro.

"They're the reason we exist! They're the reason we have to fight for our own lives, and for other's lives! They're the reason we have to mourn someone each and every single day! They're the reason Momo was hurt!" Toshiro's voice cracked, panting heavily after his outburst.

Ichigo was almost glad he never became adept at sensing others spiritually, finding himself instead able to sense the unsurmountable hurt radiating from his friend. It was true, had it not been for the arrancar, Momo would most likely have not been hurt a second time, just like many others wouldn't have. But was that reason alone enough to not offer a second chance?

Ichigo's eyes widened, jumping away from Toshiro, feeling the impending explosion of spiritual energy. "Bankai!"

He felt his body pulse with power, the fight with Tier freshly imprinted. Despite having been able to fight against the former third Espada with his hands, he knew a fight against one who knew him so well would not be the same, relentless sparring sessions providing many bruises for the two.

"Please Toshiro, just trust me one more time, haven't I at least earned that after all I did?" Ichigo never once used his efforts in helping the Soul Society as a way to reward himself, instead taking a more humble approach, but considering he was facing the Soul Society again, he was not averse to taking such desperate measures against his own morals.

Toshiro hesitated. A voice appeared behind Toshiro, making both reel in surprise. "If it wasn't for those arrancar, Gin would've never had to _die_!" Both pairs of eyes watched, Matsumoto kneeling on the sand, tears plodding softly below.

Toshiro whipped around, coldly glaring at Ichigo. "I'm sorry Ichigo, but if this is the way it has to be, then I will stop it with all my might."

"I'm sorry too, Toshiro."

Both figures disappeared, the sand around exploding apart as the fight began. Matsumoto dragged herself off the ground, rallying the rest of the squad away from the fight.

" _Shiro,_ stop!"

All eyes turned towards the new voice, Toshiro's face adopting one of complete fear, Ichigo's going downcast, having hoped against all odds that he wouldn't have to face her so soon.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew, I finally got back into writing some stuff for this. Shan't be much longer until I can finally go back to regular updating, and I'm so sorry it's taking me this long to adapt to my schedule, which is _still_ changing, but not to worry, I shall not quit!**

 **Thank you all for the kind reviews, I must admit, the suddenness of the newest one made me feel the need to squeeze this chapter in.**


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